


Green Bottles

by Romantic_Khajiit



Series: A Khajiit’s Random Skyrim One-Shots [4]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Post-Companions Questline, Pre-Relationship, Short One Shot, purity quest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28510083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romantic_Khajiit/pseuds/Romantic_Khajiit
Summary: So I had just finished the Dragonborn DLC on one character on my PC and was trying to decide what to do next... and ended up snooping around Vilkas's room, and I found some... concerning things...So I started brainstorming and wound up with this... I originally thought I would likely revise and incorporate the beginning scene —or pieces of it— into a more fleshed out story at some point in the future, and I still might... but for the time being we’ll see how things play out for this Dragonborn...Enjoy!(And y’all know this is fanfiction, which means  some characters and things don’t belong to me, etc.)
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Vilkas
Series: A Khajiit’s Random Skyrim One-Shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071212
Comments: 42
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Vilkas woke with a start... someone was in his room... he reached for his sword reflexively, but then recognized the intruder's scent...

It was the Harbinger... Lillia... the Dragonborn...

Vilkas hadn't liked her when she first arrived at Jorrvaskr... she had white-blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a strange accent, and she always smelled of soot and ash. She was a Nord, but she had come to Skyrim from Solstheim.

She was an outsider, and Vilkas simply hadn't trusted her...

...of course he hadn't realized she was the Dragonborn back then...

To say she'd impressed since then was an understatement.

She came to Skyrim seeking to defeat the dragons, and she had done just that. Then she'd gone on to help the Companions be forever rid of the Silver Hand, avenged the death of Kodlak, and even cleansed the former Harbinger of his beast blood after his death.

Vilkas hadn't questioned why Kodlak would name such a worthy woman as his successor...

...but none of that explained why she would be in his private room now...

"Lillia..." Vilkas growled warningly, "what are you doing in here?"

The new Harbinger jumped with a start, but she turned to him with an accusing glare.

"Vilkas, what's this?" She demanded holding up a stout green bottle. Her accent always got thicker when she was angry, and she sounded fresh off the boat from Solstheim right now.

Vilkas cringed as he realized what bottle she was holding... she wasn't supposed to find that...

"Why are you snooping in my things?" He barked back irritably.

" _What is this_?" She repeated insistently, not answering his question....

"It's a potion," Vilkas growled.

"It's a poison!" She exclaimed. She grabbed the stamina potion that had been sitting beside the poison. She looked from one bottle to the other and then back to him in alarm. "Tell me you're not poisoning yourself to sleep at night," she pleaded.

Vilkas just fixed her with a steely glare. "How I sleep at night is none of your damn business," he growled.

"It _is_ my business!" She argued, "you could _kill_ yourself like this!"

"I..." Vilkas knew she had a point... "I have better sense than that," he grumbled uncomfortably.

"What would Farkas say about this?" She asked.

Vilkas rolled his eyes, "if he says anything I'll ask him how much alcohol he drinks just to do the same thing."

"Farkas doesn't drink that mu—"

"You never see at least half of what he drinks," Vilkas interrupted irritably. "Everyone knows Torvar's the drunk... no one realizes Farkas drinks three times what he does."

The Harbinger just blinked at him at a loss for words.

"This is what Hircine's curse does," Vilkas said darkly, "as the years go on, it just gets worse."

"There... there's got to be... a safer way..." she shook her head, eyes wide in concern now.

"Heh... let me know if you find one," Vilkas rolled his eyes, "and I still don't see how this is any of your business," he added grumpily.

Her brow furrowed angrily at that. "Because I care about you... you stupid ass!" She exclaimed.

Vilkas blinked... that hadn't been an answer he was expecting...

Obviously she just meant as the Harbinger... she cared about all of them, they were shield-siblings... but for the briefest moment Vilkas felt his heart jump with hope...

He'd be a liar if he said she had never graced his dreams. Ever since he'd witnessed her defeat of the Silver Hand at Driftshade, he'd wanted to see more of her... both in and out of battle.

But she had housecarls... she never needed his help... and she seemed to think being Harbinger meant she had to take every job that no one else wanted. She was good for the Companions... she certainly upheld their good name and brought in the coin, but she was almost never home.

Vilkas was suddenly pulled from his shocked thoughts as he realized she was still standing in his room, holding his bottle of poison, and glaring at him with hints of tears in her eyes.

"Apologies, Harbinger," he sighed, "I just... I wish I had been worthy of the second chance you and Kodlak received... but I was unworthy to enter the tomb... I... I'm just trying to live with that now." He hung his head, shamed by that admission.

For several moments, a heavy silence hung in the room, then...

"Vilkas..."

Suddenly a surprisingly gentle hand reached out and cupped his cheek... her smoky scent filled his nostrils and he realized there was also an underlying sweetness to it...

"When I defeated the Glenmoril betrayers I collected all of their heads as well... and I still have some of the foul things..."

Vilkas looked up hopefully as her words registered. Her blue eyes full of concern and sincerity made his heart skip.

"If you wish to be rid of this... you need only ask," she added quietly.

"You... you would journey all the way back to the tomb of Ysgramor... for me?" Vilkas asked in hopeful disbelief.

"I would," she nodded, "especially if it will stop you poisoning yourself," she added scoldingly.

Vilkas chuckled guiltily at that. "I do wish to cleanse myself," he admitted, "that I might know glory in the afterlife... and a peaceful sleep in this one."

"Then ready yourself for a trip," she smiled, "we leave as soon as you're prepared."

"Aye, Harbinger," he grinned.

Vilkas's heart swelled with an excitement he hadn't felt since he was a boy as Lillia turned back toward his door.

"I'm taking this away though," she added sternly looking back at him and holding up the stout green bottle.

Vilkas's brow furrowed, but he wasn't about to argue...

As his door shut behind her, Vilkas realized she never did tell him why she'd been in his room in the first place...


	2. Chapter 2

"Farkas! Did you know there's such a thing as alcohol poisoning?!!"

"Did you know there's such a thing as knocking?"

Vilkas couldn't help but chuckle as he overheard his Harbinger hassling his brother across the hall while he packed for their journey. Farkas must have been really drunk the night before to be so blunt and irritable with her now, Vilkas thought.

A little of his excitement dimmed as Vilkas listened to them argue... their argument slowly came to the same conclusion as the one Vilkas had had with Lillia only a few minutes earlier. Vilkas realized he wouldn't be setting off with Lillia alone... Farkas was going with them... Farkas was to be cured as well...

Vilkas tried to force down the feelings of jealousy and disappointment that that stirred in him. He loved his brother, and truly, he was relieved Farkas would be getting cured along with him... he just... would have liked to travel with Lillia... alone...

Maybe he could do that another time, he told himself... maybe he could ask her to show him what a dragon fight was like... there were still a few of the beasts roaming about...

He wondered if Farkas would beat him to that too...

Vilkas sighed. He knew his brother adored their new Harbinger... he was starting to wonder, with a bit of dread, if said adoration was purely platonic any more...

If it wasn't, Vilkas was sure he had no hope. Farkas had been her first shield-brother, the one to trust her with their secret, and the one to speak for her.

Vilkas meanwhile had taken practically until she became their Harbinger to actually realize what an amazing woman she was... he'd outright been an ass after Kodlak had died... and she'd still gone with him and watched his back while they avenged Kodlak.

And she still cared about him... enough to traipse all the way back to the frozen north end of Skyrim to help him...

Vilkas sighed again as he packed the last of his gear and headed upstairs.

Prior to that morning he'd been mostly ignoring his attraction to the Harbinger, but now he wasn't sure he could keep that up... ever since her admission that she cared about him... the way those words had made his heart jump before his more logical mind had a chance to realize what she actually meant...

Vilkas hoped that realization wouldn't get in the way of their working relationship...

As he sat down to get a bite to eat while he waited for Lillia to be ready, his mind went back to pondering why she'd been in his room...

He hadn't come up with anything logical by the time she arrived with Farkas not long behind her.

"Are you ready?" She asked with a smile.

"Aye," Vilkas nodded.

"Are you bringing your housecarl?" Farkas asked conversationally.

"I figured the two of you would be sufficient help for me to let Lydia have some time off," Lillia replied with a shrug.

"Mm," Farkas nodded but didn't say more. Vilkas thought he seemed like he might still be a little hungover.

The three of them set off without much further conversation and Vilkas spent most of the journey trying to focus on readying his soul to be rid of his beast blood... and trying not to let his mind linger on what he might have to admit were more than platonic feelings for the Harbinger...


	3. Chapter 3

"By the All-Maker!" Lillia exclaimed in shock...

She'd just shot an enraged giant that they'd accidentally gotten in the way of... it had been a single arrow, and the giant had fallen, unconscious to the ground, seemingly asleep...

Vilkas was confused... he couldn't figure out why was she so confused... nor what she could have actually done to drop a raging giant with a single shot like that...

"Harbinger, what was that?" He asked cautiously approaching the unconscious giant while Farkas kicked at its foot. Vilkas looked curiously at the arrow in the giant's shoulder... it was an ebony arrow, but even that shouldn't have...

Wait...

Vilkas knew that smell...

It had been a poisoned arrow...

He turned back to Lillia to find her staring in surprise at a familiar, stout green bottle in her hand...

"That," she said quietly, looking up to meet Vilkas's eyes, "was what you're _supposed_ to do with a poison that strong."

"Ah..." Vilkas said, looking back at the giant a little sheepishly.

"Where'd ya get a poison strong enough to kill a giant?" Farkas asked in surprise.

"It's only sleeping," Vilkas grumbled.

"Ask your brother," Lillia replied curtly before slinging her bow back over her shoulder. She tucked the bottle back in her enchanted potion satchel and turned quickly back to the road.

Farkas raised his eyebrow at Vilkas in confusion.

Vilkas sighed. Lillia sounded angry with him all over again.

"Remember when Kodlak wanted us to vary our skills a bit," Vilkas began, looking to Farkas a bit guiltily, "when you learned to smith and I thought I'd try my hand at potions?"

"...Yeah..." Farkas said slowly. His raised eyebrow began to furrow with a little more suspicion than confusion.

"Well... a few of my stamina potions came out... badly... seems they've gotten more potent over the years..."

"Why would you keep them?" Farkas asked in bewilderment.

"I uh... might have discovered they make... effective sleeping draughts," he admitted sheepishly.

Farkas stared at him for a moment before looking back to the giant and then back at Vilkas incredulously.

"You're telling me _that_ was what you've been usin' to sleep at night?" Farkas demanded.

"I was never going to take more than a sip at a time," Vilkas replied defensively.

"I was never gonna drink myself to death on purpose either," Farkas shot back.

Vilkas just grimaced at that...

"Did she take all of 'em, or do you have more bottles stashed somewhere?" Farkas asked, giving Vilkas a hard look.

Vilkas shrugged, "I actually have no idea how many she pulled out of my drawer before she woke me up," he grumbled.

Lillia spun around at that. "There's more?"

"Not sure how you could have found the one in that drawer and not seen all the others," Vilkas retorted, a little irritably.

"Vilkas, I never went snooping in your drawers," Lillia snapped, "I found this bottle sitting open on your dresser..."

"Oh..." Vilkas's brow furrowed in confusion at that...

He always put his draughts away before passing out... didn't he?

At least he knew he usually did...

...

Damn it... he couldn't remember getting into bed the night before... he actually must have taken a little too much...

Vilkas sighed and shook his head. That could have been bad...

By Ysmir, he hoped cleansing his beast blood really would work...

...and that Lillia would forgive him...

"I see..." he nodded awkwardly, "but you still never told me what you were doing in my room, Harbinger," Vilkas brought up curiously, hoping to divert her anger.

"Saving your stupid ass apparently," she retorted before turning back to the road.

"I'm raiding your room when we get back," Farkas grumbled as they continued walking.

"That's fine," Vilkas shrugged defeatedly, "I'm confiscating your alcohol."

If they really could be cured, he wouldn't need them anyway... and Vilkas was looking forward to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea if Vilkas actually has an alchemy skill like Farkas has a random really high smithing skill, but I’ve seen him use the alchemy table a few random times when I’ve had him living in a home where I have one.


	4. Chapter 4

Vilkas sat quietly, just taking in the peaceful silence around him...

... _Peace_...

...that was something he hadn't felt in so many years... he'd forgotten what it was like to not hear the heartbeats of every living thing around him... to not smell every nuance of the blood pumping through people's veins... to not feel the need to stalk some animal or person through the woods and sink his teeth into their throat...

It was like waking up from a bad dream... the nightmare fading away... like he could breath again...

Hearing Lillia's voice, compassionately asking if he was ok once the fight was over had reminded Vilkas of the sensation of getting that first good breath of air after nearly drowning or being strangled... the relief of light returning to his eyes when he'd been about to blackout...

Only now the light had been Lillia smiling happily at him... she'd offered him her hand to help him to his feet and Vilkas had briefly considered the idea of instead pulling her to him and kissing her...

...but then of course Farkas had ruined the moment by clapping him heartily on the back with a joyous laugh and hauling him to his feet the moment he'd taken Lillia's outstretched hand.

Vilkas couldn't begrudge Farkas any of that though, he was happy... happy for himself and happy for his brother. His mind was finally clear of the bloodlust that had clouded his thoughts and dreams, and at least some of his bad temper seemed to have gone with it.

Now Vilkas was sitting in the burial chamber... his intent had been to pay his respects to Ysgramor now that his soul was clean... which he had done for at least an hour— probably longer actually, he wasn't exactly keeping track of time... but then he found himself thinking of Lillia instead...

...thinking of how beautiful she was... of how her eyes practically shown when she was happy... of that gentle pink flush on her cheeks... and of how her hair reminded him of the golden glow of morning sunlight on a snowbank...

...thinking of how much he'd wanted to kiss her earlier...

By Ysmir... Vilkas didn't think he could even pretend to deny it now...

Lillia was scary when she was angry, and breathtaking when she was happy. Vilkas wanted to make her happy. He wanted to be the reason for that beautiful smile of hers...

He was pulled from his peaceful ponderings suddenly by the sound of Farkas knocking something over, quietly swearing, and then apologizing profusely. Vilkas turned to see Farkas noisily setting a burial urn back upright and carefully setting the lid back in place. He wondered in slight amusement if Farkas was apologizing to him or to whatever soul he may have just disturbed.

Vilkas took a deep breath and sighed. Farkas was rarely clumsy, if he had managed to unintentionally knock something over like that, he was likely either very bored or very distracted. It was probably time for them to be moving now.

Lillia had gone on ahead back to Jorrvaskr. Farkas had wanted to look around and seemed to just be waiting for Vilkas to finish. With a sigh, Vilkas got up and turned to his brother.

"Shall we look around?"

"Yeah," Farkas grinned, "come see what I found up here."

They spent the next couple of hours exploring. Farkas had found what looked like a storage chest with a few sets of ancient armor which was fascinating to look at.

They also made their way into the other chambers of the tomb. The architecture of the Ancient Nords really was impressive. Vilkas got distracted at a few points just studying the carvings... it was amazing how much care and dedication had been put into the tomb's construction.

Farkas pointed out the spot where he'd turned back, just after they'd passed a small section of the tomb that had been infested with spiders.

Vilkas recalled that Farkas had simply told him he'd decided he was right, but Aela had later told him Farkas had been scared of the spiders...

"What _actually_ made you turn back?" Vilkas asked curiously. "Aela said you were afraid of the spiders..."

Farkas chuckled a little bitterly. "Yeah, that's what I told her and Lillia," he shook his head. "I didn't wanna risk them turnin' back too. I just didn't feel right facin' the ancient Companions as a beast," he explained. "They didn't look happy when we fought —not angry either— more like they were just disappointed with me... so I didn't feel like I deserved to go further."

"Ah," Vilkas nodded.

"It feels better in here now though..." he added with a grin, "like we're allowed to be here— the old Companions aren't disappointed anymore."

"Aye, it does feel more peaceful here now," Vilkas agreed with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

The brothers began making their way back toward home, leaving the tomb just after sunset. They stopped in Winterhold to get a hot meal and beds for the night.

One of the first things they discovered was that it took much less for a man to get drunk than it did for a werewolf...

Fortunately Vilkas maintained enough good sense to grab Farkas and stumble to the room they'd rented before Farkas got too loud or too personal with his rambling.

Normally Vilkas would have been rather angry and embarrassed at their predicament, but he was just so happy about being cured he still didn't care. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt he shouldn't have let Farkas have alcohol, but at least they'd cut themselves off at a quarter of what Farkas would have drank previously... though... Farkas had still drank more than Vilkas had, and he was just a bit more drunk...

"For the love of Talos, brother," Vilkas complained as he helped Farkas stumble to his bed, "why do you have to be so fat?"

"'M not fat," Farkas protested as he crashed into the bed, "its muscle."

" _I'm_ muscle," Vilkas argued, "you've got a gut from drinking too much all these years."

"If you were muscle you wouldn't be complainin' 'bout my weight," Farkas retorted with his face in the pillow.

"If you didn't drink so much I wouldn't have to," Vilkas shot back as he sat heavily on the other bed.

Farkas snorted at that, and Vilkas chuckled. Then Farkas tried to roll over, but almost lost his balance and fell right back to where he'd been, face down on the pillow. Vilkas laughed and Farkas began to snicker.

Farkas managed to roll over on his second try, which Vilkas thought made for a hilarious sight. Soon they were both laughing so hard their sides hurt, and Vilkas wasn't even sure what they were laughing about anymore.

After several minutes they began to settle down and fell into a comfortable, happy silence, each lying on their respective beds. Vilkas thought Farkas had dozed off, but then several more minutes later he spoke up in a drawling voice.

"You ever think of settlin' down? Like gettin' married an' havin' a family?"

Vilkas turned his head in surprise to see Farkas staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"It's crossed my mind..." Vilkas said slowly, "I've tried not to think much on it though, since I never thought I'd be able to as a beast."

"I want to," Farkas admitted, "have a house with a wife an' kids... I could work a forge, or maybe run a simple store to stay home with them..."

"You have a woman in mind?" Vilkas asked curiously... with a small sense of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah," Farkas grinned, still staring drunkenly at the ceiling. "A good woman... I hope she'll have me..." he yawned, "she's pretty... an' she can fight..."

Vilkas's sense of dread grew.

"...she smiles at me most o' the time when I see 'er... she's friendly... brave... strong..."

"She have a name?" Vilkas asked. He said it in a teasing voice, but his dread was growing by the moment.

"...honorable..." Farkas mumbled, seeming not to have heard Vilkas's question.

Vilkas looked again to see Farkas's eyes were closed.

"Damn it brother, what's her name?" Vilkas snapped, but Farkas showed no sign of hearing.

"...loyal..." he continued mumbling in his sleep with a smile on his face.

Vilkas started to roll over to get up but now that he'd laid down he realized he might be too drunk to get back up.

With a grumpy sigh, he lay back down and resigned himself to the worst as he listened to Farkas mumble.

It was all mostly incoherent by now... but one of the mumbled words that escaped Farkas's lips before he passed out completely definitely began with ' _L_ ' and ended with ' _ia_ '...


	6. Chapter 6

Vilkas woke the next morning feeling awful... the light was too loud, and it felt like a blacksmith was trying to hammer something out of the inside of his skull.

With his arm feeling much heavier than it was supposed to, Vilkas reached up and swatted away whatever the obnoxious thing was that was poking his shoulder.

He heard Farkas grunt at that and then felt something smooth gently but insistently tapping the side of his face. Vilkas cracked open one eye and glared at the dark red bottle Farkas was holding in his face.

"Come on," Farkas grumbled, "gonna have to pay for another night if we're not out soon."

Vilkas groaned and slowly rolled over. He had to quickly clap his hand to his mouth, and only barely avoided vomiting.

"Ysmir's balls," he swore grumpily, "I hate everything."

"Oh, so that was your personality, an' not just the beast after all," Farkas quipped, sounding amused.

"Shut up," Vilkas snapped, and then immediately regretted his own volume.

"Drink the potion, it helps," Farkas replied calmly, tapping the side of his face with the red bottle again.

Vilkas had half a mind to slap the bottle out of his hand and punch him, but his head hurt too much for that kind of movement. Instead, he slowly and skeptically sat up and took the bottle. He knew a healing potion alone was no cure for a hangover and he was wondering bitterly how Farkas was handling so well.

Very slowly, so as not to make himself sick, Vilkas began to sip the potion Farkas had handed him... as his headache cleared he realized it wasn't a simple healing potion.

"What is this?" He asked, looking at the bottle in surprise. He was suddenly feeling much better.

"Hangover remedy," Farkas shrugged, "it's mostly a poison antidote potion mixed with a healing potion, with a little stamina potion and cure-disease potion mixed in too."

"Where'd you get it?" Vilkas asked. He was impressed now, he only had a mild headache.

"Mix it myself," Farkas replied, "usually buy the potions from Arcadia."

Vilkas just blinked at his brother in surprise for a moment.

"Didn't used to need it after that little to drink though..." Farkas added with a sheepish smirk.

"I'm still taking your alcohol away when we get home," Vilkas sighed as he got up and stretched.

"I know," Farkas chuckled, "an' I won't need it."

Vilkas smiled... with the hangover clearing the relief of having finally had a dreamless sleep was settling in... he felt better than he had in years...

Until the memory of what Farkas had said before they'd passed out came back...

As he collected his things and got his armor back on, Vilkas contemplated what to do about that... how to bring the conversation up... _if_ he should bring the conversation up...

They got a late breakfast and set out from Winterhold much later in the day than Vilkas would have preferred. It seemed, unsurprisingly, that men also needed a lot more sleep than werewolves did, and even with Farkas waking him, they'd slept till nearly noon.

In spite of the worries weighing on his mind, Vilkas's mood improved drastically as they got out on the road. The weather was sunny and the air was crisp. He decided he could risk the conversation with his brother...

"So how much do you remember of what you said last night?" Vilkas asked, putting on a teasing smirk as they walked down the road.

"Most of it," Farkas nodded, a content looking smile forming on his face, "pretty sure I dozed off at one point, but then I woke up 'cause you were snorin'."

"I don't snore," Vilkas protested, but Farkas laughed at that.

"You do when you're drunk!"

Vilkas scowled and rolled his eyes. "Alright, at least I don't _always_ snore like you do," he grumbled.

Farkas let out another laugh at that. "So do you remember what you said last night?" Farkas asked teasingly.

"I think so..." Vilkas nodded, furrowing his brow, "I wasn't as drunk as you were..."

"Dunno..." Farkas shrugged, "you seemed more drunk when I tried to wake you up."

"No, I was just hungover," Vilkas shook his head.

"No, the first time I woke you up..."

"What?" Vilkas looked sideways at Farkas in confusion now and Farkas's grin instantly turned mischievous...

"When you woke me up 'cause you were snorin'," Farkas continued, "an' I woke you up..."

Vilkas shook his head uncomfortably, "I only remember trying to get you to tell me the name of this woman you're hoping to marry and you dozing off without saying..."

"So you don't remember wakin' up an' tellin' me all about your 'ray of sunshine'...?" Farkas grinned deviously and Vilkas felt his face flush.

"I don't," Vilkas replied stiffly, his scowl returning.

"You don't remember tellin' me how much you wanted to kiss a certain shield-sister recently?" Farkas prodded.

Vilkas thought he noticed the corners of Farkas's smirk twitch just a little, which was usually one of Farkas's tells that he was bluffing, but Vilkas wasn't confident that he'd caught it now.

"I have no memory of that," Vilkas grumbled, glaring at Farkas suspiciously.

"An' you don't remember tellin' me about how you were hopin' that certain shield-sister was in your room the other day 'cause she wanted to go get in your bed?"

Vilkas knew Farkas was bluffing now. "Damn it, brother! I said no such thing!"

Farkas just stopped in his tracks, laughing so hard he doubled over.

Vilkas knew he couldn't have said that, because such a thought hadn't crossed his mind... but now that it had... by Ysmir he was going to have a problem when they got home...

"Damn it, brother!" Vilkas snapped again, "you made all of that up, didn't you?!"

Farkas was laughing too hard to answer for a moment, but he finally nodded, laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

"I knew it," he laughed.

Vilkas scowled as Farkas kept laughing...

"You didn't even stop snorin' when I hit you with a pillow last night," Farkas admitted as he caught his breath, "but your reactions just told me everything," he added with a teasing grin, "you're sweet on Lillia."

Vilkas sighed as he ran a hand down his face. It suddenly occurred to him that Farkas seemed amused by this, not concerned or jealous... which was probably at least good news for him... "Fine," Vilkas grumbled, "I admit it... I might be... interested... in the Harbinger..."

Farkas grinned like he'd just won an argument and it made Vilkas sorely tempted to punch him.

"Now, who's this woman you're so sweet on?" He prodded irritably.

"Uhn-uh" Farkas shook his head, "that's gonna be a surprise."

"Wait, what? Brother, that's not fair," Vilkas complained indignantly, but Farkas just laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

Vilkas still hadn't talked Farkas into admitting a thing by the time they'd made it back to Whiterun, but he was at least less worried about Farkas being interested in Lillia as well. In fact, it was at Farkas's insistence that he made his way down to the Harbinger's chambers once they got back to Jorrvaskr... but to his disappointment, he found, as usual, Lillia was not there.

It took considerable effort to conceal his disappointment as he made his way back down the hall.

He found Farkas in his room rummaging through his drawers. Instead of stopping him Vilkas rolled his eyes and went to Farkas's room, only to find the massive stash of alcohol had already been removed... the shelves behind the bar were oddly bare and even the stack of kegs were gone.

"Alright, where'd you hide 'em? I can't find... oh..." Farkas trailed off mid question as he walked into his own room behind Vilkas.

"I'm assuming Lillia beat us both," Vilkas shook his head.

"Huh..." Farkas said thoughtfully staring at his empty bar, "wonder what she did with it all..."

"Are you angry?" Vilkas asked calmly, watching Farkas look around.

"Nah," Farkas shrugged, "you'd 've taken it all if she didn't."

"True," Vilkas nodded, "I'm guessing my potions are all gone?"

"Couldn't find 'em," Farkas replied with another shrug.

"Alright, I'll go make sure," Vilkas sighed.

Farkas followed him back across the hall and Vilkas found that, sure enough, the drawer he'd kept his sleeping draughts in had been emptied. Farkas had also made a bit of a mess rummaging through everything else looking for them.

Once Vilkas had assured his brother that there were no more hidden green bottles, they both made their way back upstairs.

Aela informed them that Lillia had taken a contract to go clear out a troll den. Vilkas sighed... of course she had... the damn woman could never sit still...

When it came time for dinner Vilkas figured out what Lillia had done with Farkas's alcohol stash... in short, Tilma wasn't going to need to buy more ale or mead for at least a month.

"I was specifically requested not to serve you any of it though, dearie," Tilma smiled sympathetically at Farkas as she handed Vilkas an ale. "It seems you two got the poor Harbinger quite worried about you," she added, giving Vilkas a concerned look.

"Aye," Vilkas sighed, "we know, but we're alright now."

"Glad to hear it dearie," Tilma smiled again, "see that you stay that way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very short bit, the next chapter will follow very shortly.


	8. Chapter 8

It was sometime in the middle of the night, a few days after they'd returned... Vilkas was woken by another intruder in his room, but this time, he didn't recognize any scents...

Reflexively he grabbed the hand that had been reaching for him and grabbed his sword with his other hand. In a matter of moments he was out of bed and had the intruder pinned with their back to his chest and his sword at their throat...

He was at least a head taller than the intruder and easily got his arms around the figure to hold them firmly... rough leather armor pressed against his bare chest and long hair brushed against his cheek and nose...

He was about to demand the intruder identify themselves before he slit their throat but then he suddenly realized —now that he was holding the intruder so close— that he _did_ recognize the slightly smoky scent...

"Vilkas!" Lillia's startled voice accompanied that realization as Vilkas froze, slowly waking up more fully as he realized exactly who he had pinned against him...

He hadn't recognized her scent sooner because he couldn't smell things like he used to anymore... by Ysmir, that could have been bad...

"S-sorry Harbinger," he sputtered, quickly lowering his sword and loosening his grip. "I didn't realize..." Vilkas blinked, as she stepped away and he realized he couldn't see in the dark like he used to either. "What are you doing in here?" He asked scoldingly as he moved to light his lamp, "I could have slit your throat!"

"I would have stopped you," she replied in a calm tone, but her accent was thick, and as the light illuminated the room Vilkas saw that her face had gone rather dark pink. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to give you such a start," she continued sheepishly, "though I am glad to know you're so well prepared for dispatching intruders..."

"I'm sorry," Vilkas shook his head again... he couldn't believe how close he'd come to harming her... that he hadn't recognized her... the thought nearly made him sick.

His heart was still racing from the adrenaline rush... and he couldn't hear her heartbeat, but she looked to be trying to calm down and compose herself as well... she looked flustered. He also noticed she seemed to be intentionally averting her eyes from his bare chest...

Vilkas suddenly found himself trying not to think about the feeling of her body pressing against his chest like she had been... it was probably a good thing she was wearing her armor, but even that didn't seem to be keeping his imagination from running away with the idea...

"How would you have stopped me?" He asked in a low tone.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, looking a little startled before she smirked confidently at him. "I _am_ the Dragonborn, Vilkas, I'm pretty sure I can take you..."

Vilkas's heart jumped at her smirk...

_In a fight_ , he told himself firmly... _obviously_ she meant she could take him in a fight... but the way she smirked had taken his damned imagination somewhere very different with those words...

...and then she cocked an eyebrow curiously at him and regarded him with a more suspicious smirk and a very faint chuckle escaped her lips...

Vilkas felt his face flush with shame as he suspected she could tell where his mind was...

"Of course," he nodded with his mouth feeling dry, "apologies, Harbinger," he added, averting his eyes from her lovely face. "Did you need anything?"

"Aela said you looked for me when you returned," she replied quietly, and Vilkas thought he heard her step toward him but he didn't dare look up to see, "I wanted to see that you were ok, and resting well."

"Aye," he replied, "I am—"

His voice caught in his throat as her hand gently came up to cup his cheek. He took in a sharp breath... he was no longer a beast, but he still appreciated scents that intrigued him... he finally placed the underlying sweetness to her scent; she washed with a milk and honey soap... that combined with the smoky smell reminded him of a cozy hearth fire... the kind he wanted to curl up beside with a good book and just relax after a long day... it was a comforting, relaxing scent... by Ysmir, Vilkas loved it...

Her thumb gently stroked the side of his cheek, and Vilkas realized, to his embarrassment, that he had leaned slightly into her touch, and had just been enjoying the moment with his eyes closed and his lips nearly touching her palm as he breathed in her scent.

He looked up at her then to find her smirk replaced by a simple, genuinely sweet smile.

"Do you need anything?" She asked quietly, meeting his eyes with a warm, sincere gaze as her hand fell away.

... ' _You_ ,' Vilkas wanted to say...

...' _a kiss_ '...

...' _to spend the night in your bed_ '...

A dozen possible responses ran through his mind before Vilkas finally took a deep breath...

"I'm alright," he replied instead, giving her an appreciative smile, "but I admit, I would be glad of your company more often," he added hopefully.

Her face lit with a happier smile at that and it made Vilkas's heart jump again.

"Alright," she nodded, looking happy, "I'll be sure to see you before I take my next job, and..." she suddenly looked a little uncertain... "I'll leave you to your rest now," she said with another smile as she turned to leave.

Without really thinking Vilkas reached out and caught her hand. He didn't want her to go... but he thought better of asking her to stay as she turned back to him looking a little startled.

"Thank you, Lillia," Vilkas said with a gentle smile instead, "I'll see you in the morning." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting her pull away.

"Of course," she smiled back beautifully at him, "goodnight Vilkas."

Once his door shut again Vilkas put out his lamp and let himself fall back on his bed, wondering what in Oblivion had just happened... and feeling like his room was somehow colder since she'd left.


End file.
